Project description:We investigated the association between a U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 applicant's self-identified race or ethnicity and the probability of receiving an award by using data from the NIH IMPAC II grant database, the Thomson Reuters Web of Science, and other sources. Although proposals with strong priority scores were equally likely to be funded regardless of race, we find that Asians are 4 percentage points and black or African-American applicants are 13 percentage points less likely to receive NIH investigator-initiated research funding compared with whites. After controlling for the applicant's educational background, country of origin, training, previous research awards, publication record, and employer characteristics, we find that black applicants remain 10 percentage points less likely than whites to be awarded NIH research funding. Our results suggest some leverage points for policy intervention.
Project description:The National Institutes of Health (NIH) plays a critical role in funding scientific endeavors in biomedicine. Funding innovative science is an essential element of the NIH's mission, but many have questioned the NIH's ability to fulfill this aim. Based on an analysis of a comprehensive corpus of published biomedical research articles, we measure whether the NIH succeeds in funding work with novel ideas, which we term edge science. We find that edge science is more often NIH funded than less novel science, but with a delay. Papers that build on very recent ideas are NIH funded less often than are papers that build on ideas that have had a chance to mature for at least 7 y. We have three further findings. First, the tendency to fund edge science is mostly limited to basic science. Papers that build on novel clinical ideas are not more often NIH funded than are papers that build on well-established clinical knowledge. Second, novel papers tend to be NIH funded more often because there are more NIH-funded papers in innovative areas of investigation, rather than because the NIH funds innovative papers within research areas. Third, the NIH's tendency to have funded papers that build on the most recent advances has declined over time. In this regard, NIH funding has become more conservative despite initiatives to increase funding for innovative projects. Given our focus on published papers, the results reflect both the funding preferences of the NIH and the composition of the applications it receives.
Project description:IntroductionThis study explores how the emergence of FDA-funded Tobacco Regulatory Science (TRS) research complements and perhaps influenced the direction of tobacco research supported by NIH.Aims and methodsNew NIH- and FDA-funded tobacco projects awarded in fiscal years (FY) 2011-2020 were identified using internal NIH databases of awarded grants. Project abstracts and research aims were coded by the authors to characterize research domains and tobacco products studied.ResultsBetween FY 2011 and 2020, NIH funded 1032 and FDA funded 322 new tobacco projects. For the years and grant activity codes studied, the number of new NIH tobacco projects declined while FDA's increased; combined the number of new projects held steady. Much of NIH research included smoking combustibles (43.7%). The most common products in FDA research were cigarettes (74.8%) and e-cigarettes/ENDS (48.1%). Most NIH (58.6%) and FDA (67.7%) projects included research on the determinants of tobacco use. Another area of apparent overlap was health effects (29.5% NIH and 30.1% FDA). Projects unique to NIH included treatment interventions (33.3%), disease pathology/progression (17.8%) and neurobiology (18.9%). A minority of both NIH and FDA projects included populations particularly vulnerable to tobacco product use.ConclusionsIn total, support for new tobacco research supported by NIH and FDA combined remained steady for the time period covered, though there was a concomitant decline in NIH tobacco projects with the increase in FDA-funded TRS projects for the activity codes studied. Despite the apparent overlap in some areas, both NIH and FDA support research that is unique to their respective missions.ImplicationsNIH continues to support tobacco research that falls within and outside of FDA's regulatory authorities. This research still is needed not only to bolster the evidence base for regulatory decisions at the national and state levels, but also to advance a comprehensive scientific agenda that can inform multiple levels of influence on tobacco control, use and addiction. It will be important to continue monitoring FDA-funded TRS and NIH-funded tobacco research portfolios to ensure that the level of support for and focus of the research is sufficient to address the burden of tobacco-related morbidity and mortality.
Project description:The symptom of fatigue is prevalent among patients with chronic diseases and conditions such as congestive heart failure and cancer. It has a significant debilitating impact on patients' physical health, quality of life, and well-being. Early detection and appropriate assessment of fatigue is essential for diagnosing, treating, and monitoring disease progression. However, it is often challenging to manage the symptom of fatigue without first investigating the underlying biological mechanisms. In this narrative review, we conceptualize the symptom of fatigue and its relationship with mitochondrial bioenergetics using the National Institute of Health Symptom Science Model (NIH-SSM). In particular, we discuss mental and physical measures to assess fatigue, the importance of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in cellular and organ functions, and how impaired ATP production contributes to fatigue. Specific methods to measure ATP are described. Recommendations are provided concerning how to integrate biological mechanisms with the symptom of fatigue for future research and clinical practice to help alleviate symptoms and improve patients' quality of life.
Project description:The Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Consortium and the National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS) undertook a Common Metrics Initiative to improve research processes across the national CTSA Consortium. This was implemented by Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute at the 64 CTSA academic medical centers. Three metrics were collaboratively developed by NCATS staff, CTSA Consortium teams, and outside consultants for Institutional Review Board Review Duration, Careers in Clinical and Translational Research, and Pilot Award Publications and Subsequent Funding. The implementation program included training on the metric operational guidelines, data collection, data reporting system, and performance improvement framework. The implementation team provided small-group coaching and technical assistance. Collaborative learning sessions, driver diagrams, and change packages were used to disseminate best and promising practices. After 14 weeks, 84% of hubs had produced a value for one metric and about half had produced an initial improvement plan. Overall, hubs reported that the implementation activities facilitated their Common Metrics performance improvement process. Experiences implementing the first three metrics can inform future directions of the Common Metrics Initiative and other research groups implementing standardized metrics and performance improvement processes, potentially including other National Institutes of Health institutes and centers.
Project description:Women and racial/ethnic minority dementia caregivers have unique caregiving experiences and support needs. To ensure the identification of potentially important differences in outcomes within these groups, the amended National Institutes of Health (NIH) Policy on Inclusion of Women and Minorities mandates reporting by gender and race/ethnicity. The objective of this study was to determine the inclusion and reporting rates among NIH-funded dementia caregiver support interventions. A focused systematic literature review of studies published from 1994 to 2015 located 48 articles meeting inclusion criteria. The majority of studies included women and racial/ethnic minorities; however, 67% did not report results by gender or racial/ethnic group. Acknowledgment of underreporting was more common for race/ethnicity than gender. Our findings suggest limited NIH guideline compliance that may reflect a lack of awareness regarding potential gender disparities in caregiving roles. Ensuring NIH guideline compliance necessitates shared investments from researchers, editors, and reviewers to ensure group differences are systematically identified and reported.
Project description:Federal investment in survivorship science has grown markedly since the National Cancer Institute's creation of the Office of Cancer Survivorship in 1996. To describe the nature of this research, provide a benchmark, and map new directions for the future, a portfolio analysis of National Institutes of Health-wide survivorship grants was undertaken for fiscal year 2016. Applying survivorship-relevant terms, a search was conducted using the National Institutes of Health Information for Management, Planning, Analysis and Coordination grants database. Grants identified were reviewed for inclusion and categorized by grant mechanism used, funding agency, and principal investigator characteristics. Trained pairs of coders classified each grant by focus and design (observational vs interventional), population studied, and outcomes examined. A total of 215 survivorship grants were identified; 7 were excluded for lack of fit and 2 for nonresearch focus. Forty-one (19.7%) representing training grants (n = 38) or conference grants (n = 3) were not coded. Of the remaining 165 grants, most (88.5%) were funded by the National Cancer Institute; used the large, investigator-initiated (R01) mechanism (66.7%); focused on adult survivors alone (84.2%), often breast cancer survivors (47.3%); were observational in nature (57.3%); and addressed a broad array of topics, including psychosocial and physiologic outcomes, health behaviors, patterns of care, and economic/employment outcomes. Grants were led by investigators from diverse backgrounds, 28.4% of whom were early in their career. Present funding patterns, many stable since 2006, point to the need to expand research to include different cancer sites, greater ethnoculturally diverse samples, and older (>65 years) as well as longer-term (>5 years) survivors and address effects of newer therapies.
Project description:ObjectiveThis portfolio analysis aims to describe the scope of NIH-funded extramural research grants at the intersection of nutrition research and implementation science (IS) from 2011 to 2022 and to offer insights into future research opportunities relevant to the Strategic Plan for NIH Nutrition Research 2020-2030.MethodsA portfolio analysis of funded grants using NIH reporting systems was conducted to identify nutrition research and IS awarded between fiscal years 2011 and 2022. The authors screened the titles and abstracts for inclusion criteria: research and career development awards involved a nutrition and/or dietary intervention and measured a stated implementation outcome or used an IS theory, model, or framework.ResultsIn total, 33 NIH-funded awards met the inclusion criteria. Almost half of the awards (48.5%) were investigator-initiated research projects compared to research career awards and cooperative agreements. While studies were predominantly conducted in the United States, 15.2% were conducted in low- and middle-income countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Adults aged 19-64 years and children aged 2-11 years represented most of the study populations (45.5 and 15.2%, respectively). Studies provided nutrition/dietary guidelines and created culturally tailored interventions, which were then adapted in collaboration with community partners in schools, hospitals, and religious settings. The most cited IS outcomes were feasibility, costs, adoption, and acceptability. Sixteen awards (48.5%) used an IS theory, model, or framework to guide their work.DiscussionThe findings show the breadth of NIH-funded nutrition and implementation research and highlight potential research opportunities.
Project description:Many granting agencies allow reviewers to know the identity of a proposal's principal investigator (PI), which opens the possibility that reviewers discriminate on the basis of PI race and gender. We investigated this experimentally with 48 NIH R01 grant proposals, representing a broad range of NIH-funded science. We modified PI names to create separate white male, white female, black male and black female versions of each proposal, and 412 scientists each submitted initial reviews for 3 proposals. We find little to no race or gender bias in initial R01 evaluations, and additionally find that any bias that might have been present must be negligible in size. This conclusion was robust to a wide array of statistical model specifications. Pragmatically, important bias may be present in other aspects of the granting process, but our evidence suggests that it is not present in the initial round of R01 reviews.
Project description:Increasing biomedical workforce diversity remains a persistent challenge. Recent reports have shown that biomedical sciences (BMS) graduate students become less interested in faculty careers as training progresses; however, it is unclear whether or how the career preferences of women and underrepresented minority (URM) scientists change in manners distinct from their better-represented peers. We report results from a survey of 1500 recent American BMS Ph.D. graduates (including 276 URMs) that examined career preferences over the course of their graduate training experiences. On average, scientists from all social backgrounds showed significantly decreased interest in faculty careers at research universities, and significantly increased interest in non-research careers at Ph.D. completion relative to entry. However, group differences emerged in overall levels of interest (at Ph.D. entry and completion), and the magnitude of change in interest in these careers. Multiple logistic regression showed that when controlling for career pathway interest at Ph.D. entry, first-author publication rate, faculty support, research self-efficacy, and graduate training experiences, differences in career pathway interest between social identity groups persisted. All groups were less likely than men from well-represented (WR) racial/ethnic backgrounds to report high interest in faculty careers at research-intensive universities (URM men: OR 0.60, 95% CI: 0.36-0.98, p = 0.04; WR women: OR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.47-0.89, p = 0.008; URM women: OR: 0.46, 95% CI: 0.30-0.71, p<0.001), and URM women were more likely than all other groups to report high interest in non-research careers (OR: 1.93, 95% CI: 1.28-2.90, p = 0.002). The persistence of disparities in the career interests of Ph.D. recipients suggests that a supply-side (or "pipeline") framing of biomedical workforce diversity challenges may limit the effectiveness of efforts to attract and retain the best and most diverse workforce. We propose incorporation of an ecological perspective of career development when considering strategies to enhance the biomedical workforce and professoriate through diversity.